HOUSTON – It seemed like one of the marquee matchups coming
in, but recent history should have foreshadowed the outcome.

The last time the New England Patriots came up against J.J. Watt
during a regular-season game, the Houston Texans' All-World defensive end was
mostly neutralized – or at least what passes for neutralizing perhaps the
NFL's most unstoppable force.

Maybe the hype behind Sunday's meeting was built upon the idea
it couldn't happen again, that Watt couldn't be contained. That maybe this
group of Patriots offensive linemen, which was without starting right tackle
Sebastian Vollmer (leg) and backup Marcus Cannon (ankle), would inevitably
struggle against Watt.

And maybe they should have. But the Patriots did it again
during their 34-31 win at Reliant Stadium, as Watt – who
entered with 9.5 sacks and ranked tops among 3-4 ends with
61 pressures – did not have a sack and finished with just five pressures.

"You can say he's a great player, but I don't want to take
anything away from their other guys," Patriots guard Dan Connolly said. "Antonio Smith
is a great pass-rusher, too. Handling Watt, we got to handle the other guy, too.
It was a tough challenge."

Indeed it was, and there wasn't anything overly
exotic about the way New England approached Watt, but the Patriots did enough to
negate his impact. And on most downs, it boiled down to being smart and staying
away from the fire.

On more than half of the Patriots' running plays, they ran
away from where Watt was lined up, though that did not always work.

He went unblocked on the second play of the second drive and
was able to run down Brandon Bolden for a 1-yard gain. There
was a similar play in the third quarter when he chased down Shane Vereen in the
backfield, but Smith was able to register the
tackle before Watt arrived.

On the occasions the Patriots did run at Watt, he was
often double-teamed by a guard and a tackle. By simply staying out of the storm
and opening an umbrella when there was no other choice, the Patriots held Watt
without a tackle for loss.

That's no small feat considering Watt has 34 the last two seasons.

"He's obviously a great player, that's no secret," right
tackle Will Svitek said. "He's really talented, really explosive. He's going to
win his battles – he's going to win some of them. We just tried to mix things
up. I think everyone worked together as an O-line."

On first viewing, it didn't appear the Patriots had an
overly complicated plan to contain Watt. They switched things up, doubling him on
17 of 41 passing plays and making sure they always knew where he was on the line.

Watt moved around, lining up on the
right side for 27 of 69 plays, bouncing between both
end spots while also lining up at tackle.

It seemed the Patriots often used two men to block him when
they were taking shots downfield, though on one deep play, Connolly was
tasked with handling Watt on his own and was badly beaten, allowing Tom Brady to be
hit as he released a 25-yard pass to Julian Edelman.

"It was definitely a big challenge for us," Svitek said. "We
had to be aware of all those guys."

The performance marked the first time since Week 6 Watt
did not record a sack, continuing a successful run the Patriots have had
against the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

The Patriots basically shut him out in last year's regular-season meeting, holding him without a sack and yielding six pressures. In
their playoff rematch a few weeks later, Watt had a half-sack and one other pressure.

If his five pressures Sunday hold up to film review, it would be one of Watt's lowest totals this season. He's been held to fewer than five just four times, with a
season-low one in Week 6 against the Rams,
according to Pro Football Focus.

So it looks like Sunday's performance was another instance
of Patriots coach Bill Belichick finding a way to slow the opposition's best
weapon.